Pineapple Coconut Pound Cake
This moist and buttery Pineapple Coconut Pound Cake has a delicious balance of pineapple and coconut in every slice.
Today's recipe is based in part on our sour cream pound cake, but with the addition of flaked coconut and crushed pineapple folded into the cake batter. The result is a rich, decadent cake that is sure to be a crowd favorite!
Table of Contents
Why we Love It
- Pineapple and Coconut are perfect together (as with our pineapple coconut layer cake).
- Ultra moist and decadent pound cake with a creamy, soft texture.
- Simple to decorate and great for all sorts of occasions!
A Look at our Ingredients
You can find the complete, printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our ingredients!
All Purpose Flour- Make sure to use All Purpose rather than Self Rising. We use bleached, but if you prefer unbleached, that is fine also.
Sour Cream- We recommend "Full Fat". The sour cream in the recipe adds moisture and richness without thinning the batter.
Crushed Pineapple, Drained- The bits of pineapple in every slice add wonderful flavor! Reserve the juice if you plan to make the simple syrup glaze.
Unsalted Butter- We prefer unsalted butter so that we know exactly how much salt is added to the recipe. (We add a ½ teaspoon. Eliminate this if using salted butter.)
Coconut Extract- The Coconut in the recipe adds great flavor as it is, but the extract really adds an extra boost of flavor that we love.
Sweetened Coconut-We prefer sweetened coconut (rather than unsweetened) because it is softer and more moist.
How to Make Pineapple Coconut Pound Cake
You can find the full, printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour a bundt pan.
- Draining the Pineapple: Place a strainer/sifter over a bowl and empty the can of crushed pineapple into it. Use a fork to lightly press the crushed pineapple in the strainer, the juice will fall into the bowl beneath. Reserve the juice and pineapple separately. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk these dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Once well combined, set aside for later.
- Mix the softened unsalted butter on medium speed until smooth (using paddle attachment if you have a stand mixer). Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
- Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until blended.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, 1¼ cups crushed pineapple (well drained), coconut extract and vanilla extract.
- While mixing on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture to the butter, sugar, & egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. (I add the flour mixture three times and the sour cream mixture twice). Mix just until incorporated.
- Fold in the coconut. The batter will be thick. Scoop into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes- or until done. Baking times may vary. Check on the cake as it nears the one hour mark and adjust additional time as needed. When an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, it is ready.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes before turning out.
Pineapple Simple Syrup
Just as with our Pineapple Pound Cake, we glazed the freshly baked pineapple coconut pound cake with a pineapple simple syrup. This is an optional step, but gives the cake an additional boost of pineapple flavor.
We used equal parts of pineapple juice (reserved from the crushed pineapple) and white sugar. Rather than heating in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves as we sometimes do, today we heated the mixture in the microwave.
Stir the heated mixture until sugar has dissolved. Then, brush the outside of the cake with the pineapple syrup. You will not use all of the syrup- a light coating is all you'll need.
Simple Coconut Glaze
We topped off the cake with a simple coconut glaze. This is based on our easy vanilla glaze recipe, which is a combination of confectioners sugar, a splash of milk, a pinch of salt, and flavoring.
This glaze can be either spooned over the cake, or for more control, you can use a disposable piping bag (or ziplock bag) with the tip snipped away to pipe it over the cake.
We topped things off with a sprinkling of coconut.
Recipe FAQs
More Coconut Cakes
If you love coconut cake recipes, we have even more to share with you! Some of our favorites are our classic carrot cake recipe, Italian cream cake, and Coconut Cream Cake.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Pineapple Coconut Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
- 3 cups white sugar (600g)
- 5 large eggs, room temperature (if you are in a hurry, place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour (not self-rising) (375g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 cup sour cream (242g)
- 15.25 oz (or 20 oz)can of crushed pineapple, well drained. Reserve the juice for glaze. We do this with a strainer/sifter over a bowl. (We use about 1¼ cups crushed, drained pineapple in the batter.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- 2½ teaspoons coconut extract (10g)
- 1 cup flaked, sweetened coconut (We used Baker's brand) (75g)
Pineapple Simple Syrup Glaze
- ⅓ cup reserved pineapple juice from the drained pineapple.
- ⅓ cup sugar (100g)
Simple White Glaze
- 2 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk Adjust amount as needed for desired consistency.
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract (4g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour a bundt pan.
- Draining the Pineapple: Place a strainer/sifter over a bowl and empty the can of crushed pineapple into it. Use a fork to lightly press the crushed pineapple in the strainer, the juice will fall into the bowl beneath. Reserve the juice and pineapple separately. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to combine, set aside for later.
- Mix the butter on medium speed until smooth (using paddle attachment if you have a stand mixer). Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
- Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each to incorporate.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, 1¼ cups crushed pineapple (well drained), coconut extract and vanilla extract.
- While mixing on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture to the butter, sugar, & egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. (I add the flour mixture three times and the sour cream mixture twice). Mix just until incorporated.
- Fold in the coconut. Scoop batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes- or until done. Baking times may vary. Check on the cake as it nears the 1 hour mark and adjust additional time as needed. When an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, it is ready.
- This recipe makes approximately 9.5 cups of batter.
For the Pineapple Simple Syrup Glaze
- Stir together the pineapple juice and white/granulated sugar. Microwave for one minute. The mixture should be hot enough to dissolve the sugar. If you see sugar crystals on the spoon after stirring the heated mixture, microwave for a few more seconds. (You can heat and dissolve the mixture on the stovetop if you would rather).
- Using a pastry brush (we use a silicone pastry brush), apply the glaze to the top and sides of the cake. You will not need all of the syrup.
For the Simple White Glaze
- Combine confectioners sugar, coconut extract, milk, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and stir until smooth. If too thick, add a bit more milk. If too thin, add a bit more confectioners sugar.
- Drizzle over the cooled, pineapple-glazed pound cake. (I spooned mine into a piping bag with the tip snipped away for more control.) If the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a bit more juice or a touch of milk.
- This cake can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container.
Well that sounds terrific! :-) Awesome as always!
Thank you Teri! ;0)
Excellent!!!
Can I skip the pineapple?
Hello! If you'd like to just make a coconut pound cake, you can leave out the pineapple and it will still turn out ;0)
I just made this for a church brunch and it was a gargantuan hit! It is moist, perfect pound-cake texture, and smells like a pina colada. It tastes so so good! Everyone loved it. I will definitely make this one again.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Janine! I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it! ;0)
we made this cake this past weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. A huge crowd favorite. we used coconut run for the rum glaze instead of the white rum. loved this recipe.
Hi Mark! You must have made our Pina Colada Pound Cake (just like this one but with the rum glaze). We're so happy that you all enjoyed it. The coconut rum sounds delicious. Thanks so much for your review!
Divine, so yummy and moist, one of my favorite cakes! You guys are the bomb!
Thank you so much, Ron! So glad to hear it ;0)
All the cakes they look delicious I wish I could get all the recipes